Rebecca A. Foster

This article in today's NYT reminded me of my first visit to NYC in the 90's after getting a cell phone. After landing, I was trying to call my cousin from the gate (remember when people picking you up could come to the gate??) and couldn't make a call. I called my service provider and was told that so many stolen cell phones end up in NYC, the carrier automatically suspended service for roaming in NYC; I would've had to call before my trip to ask for it to remain unlocked. Of course, I had no idea of their policy so I didn't make advance arrangements. They did unlock my service, though, and I was able to use my phone in NYC with no problem. I'd forgotten about that. Weird throwback cell phone practice history. This was the phone I was using:

Nature is unpredictable, unrelenting and just plain unmerciful. Really, Nature, a snowstorm on top of a hurricane?? I'm scared of the earthquake that will decimate the Salt Lake valley when it hits, but at least that's a one-time, over hundreds of years, occurrence; the likelihood of it happening while I am here is very small. But these hurricanes and tornadoes will likely happen again next year, and possibly to those who went through it this year. Ugh. I feel for those living in that area. I wish there were more we could directly do from far away. I'm trying to learn from Sandy and get my 5-day supply of water, food, heat and money (small bills!) in order. I don't have any fuel in storage and need to teach myself how to store it safely before I do so, but that is on my list. Luckily in China I learned how to handle contaminated water, food and lack of heat. These are miserable things, though. (Most of our heating solutions there were unsafe. But they were all ...

My NYC photos video. Here are the links, they'll open the video directly: PC/Mac, click here:  Video link iPhone, click here: iPhone link . iPad, click here: iPad link . Android phone, click here: Android link . Mobile versions are about 60 MB, so might take a few minutes to load. Hope you like it.

A fun and interesting thing I got to do in NYC was visit a firehouse in Washington Heights, near the bridge. I was able to learn more about the tools the FDNY uses specific to their area, such as air bags for pushing subway cars away from trapped people. I also got to see how the aerial ladder works and learn more about their response to different kinds of emergencies. The truck is amazing (and the people who use it). One thing that struck me is that the tools they use were thought up by someone to get a job done, and then picked up by others and became the standard. That's really cool. I tried on a helmet and coat and it was so heavy--I can't imagine wearing all of that gear in the summer. (I'm holding a halligan, one of my favorite tools I never use.) The helmet was a lot heavier than I expected. Very solid. It made me appreciate how much we have in America. We are so lucky and privileged to have prepared, professional response teams such as the FDNY, the best o...

I'm working on a video, but here are some of my favorite camera photos from my recent trip to NYC.

I stopped drinking Diet Coke on February 22, coinciding with Lent. (Of course, usually at the end of Lent you go back on whatever you gave up, but I'm not planning on doing that, so 'coinciding with' instead of 'for.') I know, right? I mainlined that stuff for decades, but I haven't cheated even once, which surprises me.  Now I mostly drink water and hot tea, easy to do at home or the office, but on my recent week long trip to NYC, I discovered the pleasure of Snapple Diet Peach Tea; not exactly healthy, but good flavor and not carbonated, which hits all my spots. I could pick it up everywhere and I wondered why I didn't drink it back in Utah? Then I got back to Utah and realized why: Snapple is just not available here outside of grocery stores, and even then, it was this pitiful offering: Snapple, yo, we need you out here! BTW, I'm working in my new NYC video, so much fun! Why don't I live there???

I was really excited to run across bubble tea in Queens! My friend had never had it and wasn't too sure about it, but decided it was "interesting." (This is mango flavored.) My favorite was the milk coffee bubble tea in China. So fun to find these small pieces of China over here.

I saw these nitrogen tanks on the street in Times Square; living in China has made me somewhat curious about these things, because you never knew what was going to inadvertently kill you. I assumed NYC safety standards meant these were safe, but I was still curious about them. Googling reveals they are used to keep underground phone cables dry. The nitrogen drives out moisture. Who knew? (Not me, I failed high school chemistry.)

I had a fantastic time in NYC in part because every day I did something new, and doing new things is exhilirating! Not a complete list, but a sampling of my new things: ~Stayed in a new hotel, in a new part of town. ~Went to Cloisters. ~Walked through Ft. Tyron park. ~Walked across Central Park. ~Saw the new Middle Eastern and Byzantine art wings at the Met. ~Saw what an FDNY Mobile Command Center looks like and learned about what it can do. ~Learned other interesting things about FDNY capabilities. ~Found out what a cigar tastes like. ~Walked and took pictures on the High Line. ~Rode three new subway lines. ~Went to the Jewish Museum for the photography exhibit. ~Sang along (by invitation) in a small Sunday afternoon service at Trinity Church on Church Street. ~Visited the 9/11 Memorial. ~Met Fiona, my friend's new daughter. ~Stayed a few days in Bushwick with old friends and explored the area. ~Got asked by a Egyptian halal vendor "Are you Arab?" When I ...

Taken from the lookout off of 181st Street in Washington Heights, NYC.

Fabric ceiling in my study/library: Closet w/ vanity: Mural in Spanish Harlem (I think, not sure where it officially begins): George Washington Bridge: Boston:  Boston Public Library:  St. Patrick's Day in Boston:

1. The Guggenheim building is far more interesting than the Guggenheim collection. 2. I thought St. Pat's Day in Boston would be cra-zay. Maybe for New England, it is. I would like to invite all Bostonians to San Antonio for Fiesta . Cra-zay! I really liked Boston, but I am far too spirited and not nearly preppy enough to ever live there. 3. We went back to a friend-of-a-friend's apartment, where I accidentally left behind my McSorley's mug when leaving to go home for the night. The friend-of-a-friend had to walk me back to his pad to get it. Pretty sure he (and his doorman) thought this was as ploy for me to stay the night. Nope, I just really am that absent-minded. On the way to the subway (again), he asked me "You're not going to tweet about this, are you?" (Meaning everything that went down that night. He's an actor.) I was caught off guard by his question; is that really a thing people say now??? No. No I'm not. 4. NYC, please get a mag-lev ...

New York City makes me miss Chongqing dreadfully. It's a relief to not have to travel by car, to walk everywhere, to be able to pop into the corner bodega for shampoo and little cookies. I brought my iPad so I could work here and there on a work project while I'm gone because of a tight deadline. I activated the hot spot on my phone, uploaded docs to mobileme and downloaded them into Pages on my iPad. I'll use my phone to wifi power the iPad to send the docs back to the office. Technology continues to amaze me. Conversation T. and I had last weekend: Me: "I just want to live in an incense palace with houseboys, is that so wrong?" T.: "There is nothing wrong with wanting to live in an incense palace with houseboys!" I knew there was a reason I love him. And I would like that incense palace to be in New York City. Thank you.

I'm a little bit enamored of the idea of Queens, NY. I've never been there except for riding to and from JFK and LaGuardia, which doesn't count. But I've heard there is a large population of Mandarin speakers in Flushing, Queens, and I really, really wanna hang out in Mandarin-speaking Chinatown for a day or two. Historically, the majority of Chinese who immigrated to the U.S. were Cantonese speakers; hence Szechuan food instead of Sichuan food. (I'm gonna call it: Sichuan wins. But actually they speak Sichuan dialect, not Mandarin, in Sichuan province. China is kinda complicated.) But some of that is changing and Flushing is one of those areas. I supposed not many people dream of a vacation in Queens, but I've rescheduled my Boston trip for St. Patrick's Day/Evacuation Day next March and I'm trying to work out swinging by NYC a few days prior. If so, I'm definitely going to Flushing. I need to eat some delicious foods and buy sketchy Chinese produ...

I've been sorting through old pictures from my travels; lots of pictures of bridges and buildings. You know those job/skill aptitude tests you can take? I always got my highest score in 'spatial relations', which I've thought is a pretty lame thing to have high skill in-- so I can figure out where things should go in space, big deal! Although it does probably explain my love of bridges, because bridges are inherently rather spatial, no? I found shots a friend had sent me of NYC bridges and other scenic shots; I won't post them here because they're not mine to post, but they still bring me so much joy. Maybe I'm austistic, y'all, and bridges are my thing? From looking at old pictures, I've noticed my perspective on what constitutes 'clean and nice and inviting' has drastically changed. For example, I took this photo in Manhattan because at the time I thought, "Wow, look at all that garbage on the street! And now I think, "Wow, ...

I'm planning an East Coast trip for October; not only a chance to see my favorite parts of the U.S., but a chance to reconnect with good friends. My dream schedule is: fly to Chicago, visit the Art Institute, take a bus to Minneapolis and hang out with R. for two days; fly to NYC,  hang out with a few Peace Corps friends for a few days, bus to Boston to see E. who just moved there for work, back to NYC to take the Chinatown bus to D.C. and stay with friends there for a few days, fly to Orlando and see N., backtrack to Atlanta for a day or two, then fly home from Atlanta. Sounds great, eh? Most likely, though, I'll fly to either D.C. or NYC (whichever is cheaper) and take the bus between DC, NYC and Boston, then fly home. NYC is truly one of my favorite places on Earth. I've mentioned before that it is not as developed as Shanghai, but it has a flavor and character I adore. I need to add to my historical buildings photography project, go to Washington Heights, Chinatow...

Well, according to your comments, of those who stated a preference, half prefer window and half prefer aisle. You window people, I admire your bladder control! In my last post I mentioned that Shanghai is more developed than NYC. I’ve never lived in NYC, only visited two or three times a year for work or pleasure. I’ve been once to Shanghai. So, that’s my background in both cities. Here are a few reasons I think Shanghai is more developed: 1. The maglev train . As of this writing, the maglev in Shanghai is the fastest train in the world. It runs 268 - 310 miles per hour. There’s a station at the airport, and it takes seven minutes to get from the airport to the city. Now, can you imagine arriving at JFK and getting to Penn Station in seven minutes, for $6.00? How nice would that be? 2. Transport cards. In Shanghai, you can buy one refillable card and use it to pay for the subway, buses, or taxis. So convenient! I especially love that you can pay for a taxi with them, I hate carrying a...

This is difficult for me to write. (My dad, before he died, was very open to sharing with others the lessons he learned from having cancer. He wanted people to not to feel alone. He was also a very good listener, and encouraged people to share with him things they didn't feel anyone else would understand. I'm trying to follow his example.) Anxiety is a problem for me. From stories my mom told me about my childhood, it's something I've probably always had. I've struggled with it as long as I can remember, but I thought everyone did. Some things that cause anxiety are easily forgotten. Anxiety sometimes resulted in achievement, due to panic, so I haven't always recognized it as a problem. Some things that cause anxiety are long-term, and not easily forgotten. In the past, I've dealt with anxiety through medicine and self-medicating, not by addressing the anxiety itself. I don't think this is uncommon. Just prior to arriving in China, I had an exp...

I'm getting to that point in my service where people are asking me what I'm going to do when I get home. For those that don't know, before coming into Peace Corps, I had a real life adult business job, a real life adult apartment full of real-life furniture, a car, etc. I still have the car, and the furniture (thanks mom for your storage help!), so it's time to decide about the job. (I've done my Masters but at least at this time, I'm not going to do a PhD. Maybe in a few years, we'll see.) My goal is to be an ESL teacher, either corporate or government. I've narrowed down the cities where I'll be job-searching, and I have thrown NYC into the ring. I always thought if I moved to NYC I'd live in Washington Heights, but I really do want to live in a Chinese community. So, in the near future, I'll be making a trip back to NYC for a tour around Flushing, Queens. I've never been there, and I have no idea what it's like. I just know a lot...